Everyone has skills. In fact, everyone has
hundreds of skills and each one can be related in some way to one or more
occupations. Without ever having had a job, without ever having been trained for
a job, you are qualified to perform literally hundreds of types of jobs. Even if
in today's economy you have seen your job down-sized or eliminated, you have
many valuable transferable skills that will be needed in your next job.

Many people, however, are not aware of their
skills and, when asked in a job interview about their skills and experience,
have little or nothing to say. Some people hesitate to write a résumé because
they do not know how to define their vocational and transferable skills.

How can you avoid that situation? How can you
tell an employer you have the skills for a particular job when you've never done
that job before? To be a successful job hunter, you must be able to tell
employers, clearly and in detail, what you can do.

A systematic analysis of your skills should
precede any communication with employers. Résumés, job applications, and job
interviews will be more effective if you have done a thorough skills analysis
first. Get to know yourself by taking a personal inventory. Skills gained from
volunteer work, hobbies, education, and other life experiences should be
examined in addition to those skills gained from paid work. If you have trouble
identifying skills, use the guide that follows to help you get started.

List your jobs, hobbies, and interests. Start
by listing every job you have ever held - full-time and part-time jobs, as well
as paid and unpaid jobs. List the skills you acquired in each job.

What skills did you acquire as a 12-year-old
newspaper carrier? Think about it. You accepted delivery of stock items
(newspapers); you planned your route and delivered papers according to the
desires of your customers; you collected money, made change, and kept records of
cash transactions; and you probably expanded your route by getting new
customers. In a limited way, you were a combination stock clerk, delivery and
route driver, cashier, bookkeeper, and salesperson.

Next, list all of your hobbies and interests.
Do you sew, knit, fix your own car, operate a CB or Ham radio, refinish
furniture, plant and tend a garden, build models, raise animals, play computer
or video games, paint, coach sports teams, or work as a hospital volunteer? Do
you like hunting and fishing, photography, diving, camping and hiking, downhill
or cross-country skiing, or motorcycling? Have you ever participated in
fund-raising for a group, or in church-related activities? Have you ever led a
social group or sold things as part of an activity? Have you recruited members
for a group?

Each of those activities can be related to one
or more jobs. What does playing video games have to do with work? Well, you gain
eye-hand coordination, you reason, and you make quick decisions. Those abilities
can be related to a number of different jobs.

Find jobs that match your skills: After
you have compiled a list of your past jobs, hobbies, and interests, and have
listed several skills you acquired for each one, you should have several pages
of information about yourself. Are you surprised at what you see? Take this
process one step further and list as many jobs as you can in which you could use
one or more of your skills.

Once you have an idea of what you
can do, you have to narrow it down to what you want to do. What
type of work do you want to be doing in five years? What jobs will lead you to
that type of work? Do these jobs pay enough to satisfy your economic needs? Will
you enjoy doing these jobs and will you have a sense of accomplishment at the
end of the work day? The staff at the
American Job Center
will provide labor market projections for the jobs that interest you, as well as
explain apprenticeship, certification, and licensing programs within
Connecticut.

You may also register for work with the
American Job Center.
Through a computerized job matching service, you may find the perfect job for
you. If you are willing to relocate, you may search for work in any area of the
United States through
CT Job Central,
which is available to employers nationwide.

Job-Specific Skills
- are those skills necessary to do a specific job. For example, if you were to
hire someone for a typist position, a necessary skill would be typing. You
probably would qualify typing by adding a speed requirement (e.g. 50 wpm). Are
there job-specific skills that both a medical doctor and a veterinarian have in
common? Yes, both professions require the ability to examine, diagnose and treat
disease, dispense medication, perform surgery, etc. The set of skills in both
occupations is similar, but the patient is different. However, it is important
to remember that some jobs use the same or similar skills, but because of the
client, or the environment or industry, the job requirements may be different.
The following is a list of some job-specific skills:

Adaptive Skills
- may be referred to as school-to-work transition skills or basic skills
necessary for acquiring and keeping a job. As we enter the 21st century, the
workplace will be more dependent on technology. Not only must people in the
workforce know how to read, write, and do math, they must also be able to use
computers. The SCANS Report for America 2000 lists the competencies effective
workers have as:

Transferable Skills
- are skills that are useful in many job situations. Employers often ask for
good communication skills. This includes the adaptive skills of reading and
writing, as well as the transferable skills of public speaking, training,
writing reports, etc. The following is a list of several transferable skills: